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John Koethe
| birth_place = San Diego, California | occupation = Poet, philosopher, author | nationality = American | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | influences = William Wordsworth; Marcel Proust | influenced = | website = }} John L. Koethe (born December 25, 1945) is an American poet, academic, and essayist. Life Koethe was born in San Diego, California, where he grew up a self-described "science whiz kid" who loved fiction.John Yau, "America's Philosopher Poet," HyperAllergic. Web, June 17, 2018. He was educated at Princeton University and Harvard University. He is a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee."John Koethe," UWM biography Koethe has acontributed poetry and essays to publications including Poetry, Paris Review, Quarterly Review of Literature, Parnassus, and Art News. His work has been included in anthologies of poetry, including The Best American Poetry 2003. Additionally, he was selected to contribute his views on contemporary poetry for the book Ecstatic Occasions, Expedient Forms, which billed him as one of "85 leading contemporary poets." Writing Koethe's work has been well-received by critics and academicians. John Freeman, writing in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, praised Sally's Hair by noting: "We're wrapped around Koethe's finger." He cited passages that alternatively explored the poet's most intimate layers before "ricocheting back out into airy ponderings.""With 'Sally's Hair,' we're wrapped around UWM poet's finger", review by John Freeman, special to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 14 April 2006. Robert Hahn, writing for the Kenyon Review, noted how Koethe's poetry paid homage to legendary literary influences, yet still retained a distinctively trenchant voice. Hahn praised Koethe as a poet of "striking and significant originality.""'Drawing by Michelangelo, Color by Titian': Of Originality, Influence, and the Poetry of John Koethe", by Robert Hahn, for The Kenyon Review, Fall 2004. Andrew Yaphe, writing in the Chicago Review, hailed Koethe as being “widely recognized as one of our foremost Romantic poets, an inheritor of the tradition of Stevens and Ashbery.”“The Romantic Futility of John Koethe,” Chicago Review, March 22, 2001 (library card access required) And Prof. Bill Olsen of Western Michigan University prefixed a January 2005 public reading by Koethe by stating: "Reading or hearing a John Koethe poem is like listening to yourself – like hearing parts of your own consciousness for the first time.""Renowned poet to read from new book," The Herald, January 13, 2005 Inspiration and influences Koethe has stated that the inspiration for many of his poems comes "in the shower, and while I'm shaving." He has said he loves living in Wisconsin, and that he finds the state beautiful. He has titled several of his poems after places in his hometown of Milwaukee, including "Hackett Avenue.""John Koethe: poet, philosopher, East Sider," OnMilwaukee.com As influences on his poetry, he identifies several people, including famed writers William Wordsworth and Marcel Proust. Recognition Koethe's Domes won the Frank O'Hara Award for Poetry, and his Falling Water won the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award from Claremont Graduate University."John Koethe," Poetry Everywhere-PBS He has been granted fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts"Wisconsin Authors," L.D. Fargo Public Library and he has been nominated for the New Yorker Book Award, the Boston Book Review Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Boston Book Review Book Award. He is a fellow of the American Academy in Berlin, and the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers."Distinguished Professor: John Koethe," UW–Milwaukee Graduate School In February 2000, Koethe was named the first poet laureate for the city of Milwaukee, for which he received a $2,500 honorarium over 2 years. When asked in an interview what being the poet laureate required, Koethe replied: "I was the first one, and no one was quite sure what exactly I was supposed to do. The Friends of the Library oversaw the position, so together, we just sort of made it up. I read Dr. Seuss to some kids, gave a poetry reading, read a poem to The Common Council. I also introduced four writers at Centennial Hall: two fiction writers, Martha Berglund and C.J. Hribal, and two poets Susan Firer and Lisa Samuels." Publications Poetry * Blue Vents. Buffalo, NY: Audit/Poetry, 1969. *''Domes''. New York: Frank O'Hara Foundation / Columbia University Press, 1973. * The Late Wisconsin Spring. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984. * Falling Water: Poems. New York: HarperPerennial, 1997. * The Constructor: Poems. New York: HarperFlamingo, 1999. * North Point North: New and selected poems. New York: HarperCollins, 2002. *''Sally's Hair: Poems''. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. * Ninety-fifth Street: Poems. New York: HarperPerennial, 2009. * ROTC Kills: Poems. New York: HarperPerennial, 2012. Non-fiction * The Continuity of Wittgenstein's Thought. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996. * Poetry at One Remove: Essays. Anne Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2000. * Scepticism, Knowledge, and Forms of Reasoning. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2005. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:John Koethe, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Oct. 26, 2014. Audio / video *''Falling Water: Poems''. Milwaukee, WI: Volunteer Services for the Visually Handicapped, 1998. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems * "ROTC Kills" at the Boston Review. *"From the Porch" *"The Whole Creation" at Jacket *John Koethe (USA, 1945) at Poetry International (7 poems) * John Koethe profile & 10 poems at the Academy of American Poets. * John Koethe b. 1945 at the Poetry Foundation. ;Audio / video *"Chester" at Poetry Everywhere *John Koethe at YouTube ;About *John Koethe at HarperCollins *"America's Philosopher-Poet" at HyperAllergic, 2016 Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:People from San Diego, California Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Harvard University alumni Category:American poets Category:Writers from California Category:Writers from Wisconsin Category:People from Milwaukee, Wisconsin Category:University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee faculty Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:21st-century poets Category:American academics